


Signed, Sealed, Delivered

by TheSadisticMunchkin



Series: 30 days of AUs you never thought you needed challenge [19]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: 30 Days of Writing, Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst with a Happy Ending, Angsty Schmoop, College Student Castiel, College Student Dean, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mail keeps coming to the wrong address
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-19
Updated: 2015-04-19
Packaged: 2018-03-22 22:27:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3745825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSadisticMunchkin/pseuds/TheSadisticMunchkin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean doesn’t even get mail. Why the fuck is he getting them now?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Signed, Sealed, Delivered

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Swlfangirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Swlfangirl/gifts).



> I don't even know
> 
> Also dedicating this to my internet mom again because why not. She's awesome. She deserves all the great things.

            It started with one letter.

 

            It was a Saturday and Dean just came from his summer job when he saw the mailman putting something in the mailbox. Weird. Dean doesn’t even get mail. Why is he getting them now? He shook his head, the mail was probably a water bill or something. He got those all the time. Just because he finally saw someone deliver something to his mailbox, it didn’t mean it was going to be any different.

 

            He walked over to the mailbox, opened it and was surprised at what he saw. Inside of it was a letter from an Ivy League School. That’s odd because Dean was already attending the local community college so why would someone want him to go to Harvard? He double checked the front of the envelope and let out a sigh of relief when he saw that it actually wasn’t for him.

 

            It wasn’t for Sam either. It was for a person named Castiel Novak. The school probably got the wrong address. Dean sighed and stuffed the envelope in his pocket before heading back to his home. Maybe he would be able to find the guy on facebook, message him and get that mishap all cleared up.

 

            “Dean! I’m glad you’re home, I need help with application forms!” Called Sammy from the kitchen where he was surrounded by stacks of papers and books. On top of one of the smaller stacks was his laptop and a cup of coffee dangerously balanced at the edge. Dean chuckled at the sight and shrugged off his jacket and bag. This was going to be a long process. “Are you applying to every school in the world?”

 

            Sam rolled his eyes, scrolling through some long ass article online. “Not in the world, obviously. In the country.”

 

            Dean could find Castiel tomorrow.

* * *

            Dean was sitting on the front porch when three more letters were delivered to his mailbox.

 

            Okay, what the actual fuck? How many schools have got this guy’s address wrong? It shouldn’t be like that since they’re prestigious schools with the smartest people in the entire country. Dean huffed, standing up to grab the mail that came from Yale, Columbia and UPenn respectively. Jesus, this guy has applied to more schools than Sam. Actually, he’s sure Sam is going to apply to more than 4 schools.  

 

            He shuffled through the letters, not opening them because he’s sure Castiel would like to read them himself instead of having a complete stranger tell him whether or not he got into any of these schools. “Hey Dean, what’s that?” Asked Sam the minute he walked into the living room with the letters in his hand.

 

            “Mail sent to the wrong address. I got to find this Castiel guy soon.” Sam raised an eyebrow, reaching out his hands for the letters. Dean handed them to him and Sam shuffled through them. “That’s weird. These are all Ivy League Schools. They should be able to send these kinds of letters to the right address. Especially if this Castiel has been accepted in all of them.”

 

            “That’s what I was thinking! Something’s wrong and I’m sure as hell going to find out.” He took the letters from from Sam’s hand, ignoring the protest, and ran up to his room to get his laptop. He’s not very smart but he’s definitely not dumb enough to think this was just a misunderstanding. Castiel should have gotten these letters, not him. He searched for _Castiel Novak_ in google immediately after he connected to the Wi-Fi and scrolled through the results.

 

            Dean scrolled for an entire hour before he set his laptop beside him on the bed and rubbed his face. This guy was one of the top students in his high school and won several awards from academic competitions all over the world. Without even opening the letters, Dean knew that these Universities would love to have Castiel Novak be one of their students. He was sure that they would accept him even if he never even applied.

 

            So why would they be sending the letters to the wrong address? It made no sense to Dean. Shouldn’t these schools be handing these letters to Castiel on a silver platter? God knows he deserves this. So he put his laptop back on top of his legs and found Castiel’s facebook. He checked if he had any privacy settings and, when he found that his messaging feature was open, he sent Castiel a quick PM and closed his laptop.

 

            Now all he had to do was wait.

* * *

_Hello! Um I know this would sound really weird but I have some letters of yours. That kind of sounded like a threat but trust me buddy, there ain’t none of that. I think they got sent to me by accident. If you want to get these letters, just hit me up! I’m pretty sure you’d really want them back._

Castiel squinted at the PM he just received a few hours ago. That’s odd. Why would his mail be sent to someone else by accident? Maybe the address was almost similar to his. He clicked on the stranger’s – Dean Winchester’s – profile and saw the state that he lived in and he got even more confused. The man lived in Lawrence, Kansas. He lived in Eagan, Minnesota.

 

            It couldn’t be similar addresses. So what was it? And why would he be getting any letters? The only letters he was expecting were the ones from the schools he applied to but none of them came. He figured that maybe he was rejected but he knew that couldn’t be since they still sent out rejection letters. He sighed, clicking on the little PM option on Dean’s profile and sent him a message.

 

            **Hello Dean! I’d love to get whatever letters you have for me. These letters, I can’t help but ask, are not from Ivy League schools, are they?**

Castiel didn’t have to wait too long for Dean to reply.

 

            _Actually, they’re all from Ivy League schools. I got 1 yesterday and 3 more today._

He almost replied but Dean sent another message.

_No. Scratch that. My brother just gave me a few more. The rest of the Ivy Leagues caught up._

“Castiel? What are you doing?” He jumped at the sound of his mother’s voice. She stood by his doorway, holding a tray with a glass of orange juice and a plate with a sandwich on it. “Mother!” He closed his laptop quickly, not wanting her to know that he was conversing with a complete stranger. Even if it was for something that meant a lot to him, his mother really didn’t need to know anything.

 

            “I’m just chatting with a friend, mother. You’re home early.” He got up from his bed and took the tray of food from his mother’s hands before kissing her quickly on the cheek. “Well, I got off of work early. Have you gotten your letters from those big schools you were always talking about?” Well since she asked so nicely, it wouldn’t hurt her to let her know.

 

            “Actually, mother, I haven’t gotten the letters. Apparently they were sent to the wrong address.” Silence was his response from his mother. Odd. He would have thought she would be thrilled by the fact that those letters could mean that he got accepted to any one of them. “Mother? What’s wrong.” She continued to look at the wall with a blank expression and it was starting to scare him.

 

            The silence continued on for a full minute and Cas stayed there in front of his mother with the tray still in his hands. “Mother? Is there something you’re not telling me?” He finally said when her lack of a reaction started to really push his buttons. “Castiel…” She spoke after a few more seconds and she looked up at him with tears in the eyes that he inherited. “I didn’t want you to go, sweetie. I’m so sorry.”

 

            “Mother? What are you talking about?”

 

            “I changed the address on your applications.”

 

            It was then Castiel’s turn to go silent. At first he was so in shock, he couldn’t move. But then his first movement was the shaking of his hands. He stared at his mother’s tear stricken face and he suddenly dropped the tray on the floor, resulting in a resounding crash that echoed throughout the house. “You _what?”_ He didn’t want to believe what his mother said. The woman who bought him his first book. The woman who helped him apply for all the Ivy League schools.

 

            Suddenly she didn’t want that for him anymore?

 

            “I didn’t want you to go to any of them Castiel. Those schools are not for you.”

 

            He couldn’t believe what he was hearing right now. His own eyes filled with tears and he turned around to pace his room. “What do you mean those schools aren’t for me. Mother, they’re the best in the entire country!”

 

            “I know they are. But I don’t want you to go to an Ivy League, Castiel.”

 

            “Why?”

 

            “Because it is a waste of time and they’re all too far from home.”

 

            “I know you have a different reason, mother. Because that was just a load of bullshit. Don’t tell me it’s financial problems, we obviously have enough.”

 

            “Don’t you swear at me!”

 

            “ _Then tell me the real reason you don’t want me to go to college, mother!_ ”

 

            “I don’t want you to end up like your father.”

 

            This next silence was far more uncomfortable than the last. The mention of his father got him all choked up and he almost forgot there were shards of glass still on the floor. “Father was a drunk asshole. I’m different from him, you know that mother. Why would college turn me into him?” He wasn’t angry anymore, more of completely misunderstanding the entire situation.  


            “Your father went to an Ivy League school. He dropped out after a year because he thought he was too good for it. You’re stupid to dream that much, Castiel. Those big schools will just let you down.” She reached up to hold her son’s tear stricken face and smiled sadly. “I don’t want you dreaming too big. You’ll fall harder. Stay here and study community college.”

 

            Castiel wasn’t sad because of the fact that he was compared to his bum of a father. He was sad because his mother didn’t think he would be able to do it. He thought she believed in him. He wanted to forgive her, tell her that she was right and he’ll go to the community college across town. Except he couldn’t do that at all. He couldn’t forgive her for almost taking away his real future.

 

             He pulled away from her, wiping the tears away with a rough hand across his face. She stood at the doorway with a heartbroken expression. “I-I can’t do that, mother. You know how much those schools mean to me and if you’re not going to support me in this… then I don’t know anymore. There is still money in the bank for me right? Enough for four years? Maybe some living spaces?” He was not going to be like his father.

 

            His mother nodded hesitantly and that was all the answer he needed

 

            “I will be getting the letters from that wrong address tomorrow, mother. Please don’t try and stop me.”

 

            With that statement, he took his laptop from the bed and started arranging a meeting with Dean. All while he was doing this, his mother walked away with a resigned sigh, the mess on the floor left at Castiel’s feet.

* * *

            Dean probably checked his watch several times throughout the day as he waited for Castiel to arrive. He was sitting on his front porch again, this time with the eight letters bundled up together beside him. He was bouncing his leg nervously and he just hoped Castiel would come. He was sure he would since these letters were kind of a big deal.

 

            Just as he was about to go back in to get a beer or something, a car pulled up in front of his house and he stood up immediately. He was relieved to see the man from the facebook profile come out of the driver’s side. He waved at him and the man smiled brightly back. He had to admit, this guy looked better in person. “Hello Dean.” He said when he was finally right in front of him.

 

            “Hey there. I’ve got your letters.” He pointed to the front porch with the small stack of letters neatly bundled up. He led Castiel to it and he handed them over the minute they sat on the porch. “The moment of truth, buddy.” He watched as Castiel opened up the first letter and he was debating whether or not he should leave him alone for a few minutes so he can read them.

 

            But he stayed put. Castiel didn’t ask him to leave either so he stayed next to him, anxious to see if he got in. Dean has no doubt that all the letters in his hands were positive. “Princeton has accepted me.” Castiel said with an astonished face, covering his mouth for good measure. “That’s great, man! I’m proud of you.” He really didn’t know why he said that to a total stranger but he just felt like that was an appropriate thing to say.

 

            Over the course of ten minutes, Castiel was accepted to all 8 Ivy League Schools and really Dean wanted to celebrate for him. After those few minutes of joy though, the guy beside him deflated considerably. “Woah hey, aren’t you happy? I would be freaking out right now to be honest with you.”

 

            “I am happy. Immensely happy, Dean. It’s just…” He looked and searched for something in Dean’s eyes and he wasn’t as uncomfortable as he thought he would be. Castiel must have found it though so he continued. “My mother tried to stop me from ever going to any of these colleges. That’s why the letters came to you instead of me. She thought I would end up like my useless father.” He clenched his hands into fists on his lap.

 

            Dean sat there in complete surprise. Suddenly, everything made sense to him as to why the letters were sent to him. It wasn’t a mishap, it was a sabotage. Dean reached out to Castiel, squeezing his shoulder in comfort. “I don’t understand how anyone could not believe in you, Cas.” Wow a nickname already. He was fast. “I researched you before I found your profile and dude, anyone would be a fool to not even consider you as pretty fucking awesome.”

 

            Cas laughed at the praise, it was more than what his mother said to him the past few days. “You really think so?” Dean rolled his eyes and put an arm around him and smiled. “I know so. And to prove it, there is celebratory pie in the kitchen. Well, it was supposed to be just for me but I can spare you a slice Mr. Ivy League.” Cas wasn’t opposed to the offer so they both went into Dean’s house to eat that pie and toast to a bright future.

* * *

**_4 years later_ **

****

Castiel couldn’t wait to take off his stuffy graduation robes. He was able to graduate from Princeton University at the top of his class. In these four years, he finally forgave his mother and she forgave him. In these four years he has worked harder than anyone else to prove that he wasn’t like his father at all.

 

            In these four years he also gained a boyfriend.

 

            Well, technically it took Dean only a few months and a Christmas dinner to ask him out on a date. So for four years, he has had probably the best boyfriend anyone could ever ask for. He stood by him through whatever bullshit Cas ever went through whether it would be his mother’s past intentions or final exams. Dean graduated college a year before he did so he was able to move up to New Jersey and live Cas’ last year with him.

 

            Dean certainly helped him relieve some stress.

 

            So he stood there in the middle of Cannon Green, waiting for Dean to come back from his car. Apparently he left a very special graduation gift so he went to go and get it. Dean was into certain gestures like that. It all started with the celebratory pie he gave him the first time they met. Ever since then, every achievement Cas had was met with a gift or whatever Dean felt he deserved. He was spoiled senseless by his boyfriend.

 

            Suddenly two hands went to cover his eyes and a second only passed before he guessed that it was Dean. “Hey there babe, you’re going to have to follow me. It’s only for a few steps, don’t worry.” Cas didn’t protest when a blindfold replaced Dean’s hands and he couldn’t help the rush of excitement that coursed through his body.

 

            Dean lead him to god knows where for a few minutes before he stopped aprubtly. “You ready?” When Cas nodded, Dean removed the blindfold and it took him only a few seconds to register what was in front of him. There stood his classmates and family holding up large letters pasted on huge envelopes that formed a phrase that got Cas bursting into tears.

 

            _Will you marry me?_

“You went all out this time, didn’t you Dean?” he said with a voice thick with tears. He was sure to get a grand gift like a buffet but not something like this. He knew Dean wanted to go big for his graduation present but he didn’t expect a marriage proposal. When he turned around to look at Dean, the man was kneeling in front of him with the ice box that contained the ring. A new wave of emotions coursed through him and he was sure one of them was love.

 

            “Castiel Novak. Four years ago, you came to my house to get those acceptance letters from all 8 Ivy League schools. You decided to go to the farthest one away from me, you dick.” Cas laughed at that and so did the rest of the people around him.

 

            “Anyway, that time away from you got me realizing that I didn’t want to be away from you for too long. I thought that with the hot chicks and dudes you would meet in college, you wouldn’t ever feel the same way for a simple man from Kansas who got your letters by accident.”

 

            “But I was wrong. That time we were apart got us both realizing that hey maybe we could work and we sure as hell did. We lasted for four years. That’s the longest relationship I ever had and you know why? It’s because you are one special guy, Cas. After being accepted to all 8 Ivy League Schools, I already knew you were special and that you were a man who was going to make it big someday.”

 

            “When you do make it big, Cas, I want to be right by your side. Every stepping stone and every sharp turn, I want to be with you. So Castiel Novak, as your friends and family eloquently spelled out for me, will you marry me? Will you make me the happiest man alive?”

 

            Cas’ tears were falling freely down his face now at Dean’s words and he couldn’t help himself anymore. He threw himself at his boyfriend, tackling them to the ground with joyous laughter. “Yes I will marry you, Dean.” He finally said when he was settled on top of Dean and his smile was brighter than the sun at his answer. He surged upwards to capture Castiel’s lips in his own and the cheers of the people around him were blurred out in his ears.

 

            It was only him and Dean at this moment.

 

            Dean then slipped the engagement ring on Cas’ finger, sat up and gathered his new fiancé into his arms and hugged him. “I love you, Dean.” He said against Dean’s shoulder and in the corner of his eye, he saw his mother trying to hold back tears. He pulled away from Dean to look at her. When she saw that his attention was on her she placed two hands over her heart and smiled at her son.

 

            He mouthed a thank you at her before Dean pulled his chin back and kissed him again. After all, if she didn’t send those letters to Dean’s doorstep, he wouldn’t have this moment right here.

 

            If she didn’t believe in him four years ago, he is so glad she believes in him and Dean.

**Author's Note:**

> Whoah where did that ending come from idk


End file.
